He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.
- BSB Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
- NKJV He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
- NASB The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
- NLT Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God's Son does not have life. Eternal life depends entirely on possessing Christ.
Overview
John draws the sharp, exclusive conclusion of his argument: life is found in Christ alone, with no middle ground. To 'have the Son' is to belong to him by faith and so to share his eternal life. The verse leaves no room for salvation apart from Jesus, underscoring the necessity of personal trust in him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 3:36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
- John 5:24Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
- John 1:12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
- 1 Cor 1:30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
- Mark 16:16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
- John 3:15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
- 2 Jn 1:9Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
- Heb 3:14For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
- 1 Jn 2:23–24Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
- Gal 2:20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 5:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.